Man Cave Mini Fridge: Beer 101

Stocking the fridge in the man cave is always a point of contention. How many times have we heard the "Hey while your up..." from one of the guys during the game? While most men reach for pilsner, others might prefer a dunkel, bock, wheat, IPA, or another variety of beer. Did that sound like Greek to some of you? Well let's start at the beginning.

When talking about beer all the experts (and I don't count myself among them) agree that the only logical place to start is ales vs lagers. Now I could type out all the things that I have read or heard about what makes these two kinds of beers different, but like any good man I have found someone that has done that for me and I'll share that video below.

Now that we have that all squared away we can really start to look at some of the styles of beer that are out there.

Popular Style Lagers: Pilsner, Bock, Dopple Bock, Dunkel

Popular Style Ales: Pale Ale, Wheat, Porter, Stout

The list of styles are much longer than this, but to list them all would have been quite the exercise and I think you get the idea, there are a lot of beers out there.

When tasting a beer there are certain characteristics you want to look at.

First of all give it the eye test. What does it look like? Note the color and clarity of the beer. Also look at what color the head (foam) on the beer is.

The next thing to check out is what does the beer smell like. Does it smell like hops or malt. The color and aroma tend to go hand in hand.

Now that you have throughly inspected your beer it is time for that all important first taste. Taste is obviously the most important thing about a beer, but beer tastes can be complex. You want to notice if it is sweet, bitter or somewhere in between on that first sip.

Now that you have taken the plunge, it is time to check the beers mouth feel. This how light, smooth, heavy or even chewy a beer seems in your mouth.

Of course the last part of tasting a beer is the finish. Does a taste linger, or is a crisp finish from where it started.

Like the video said it comes down to personal preference as to what kind of beer you like, but hopefully you have a little bette idea of why your favorite beer is your favorite.

Let's get to the reason this is being shared. I was lucky enough to receive a book containing the breweries in the state of Pennsylvania. The Man Cave is planning on going mobile and visiting some of these fine establishments and passing along reviews of various beers that they serve so you can make decisions on what to put in the mini fridge.

Give a shout out to your favorite watering hole or beer so that the rest of us can try them out and give them the Man Cave stamp of approval.